Mileage payments become point of contention over House Democrats’ caucus

Political junkies tuning in to this afternoon’s casino debate in the New Hampshire House may have noticed two Republicans asking Speaker Terie Norelli at the beginning of the debate about something involving mileage. She ruled it out of order, and the House moved on to discuss Senate Bill 152.

But this Monday, House Democrats held a closed-door caucus that didn’t appear in last week’s calendar. Norelli’s spokesman, Mario Piscatella, said the caucus was held to discuss the casino bill, with members on both sides of the issue presenting their views followed by a discussion.

He described it as an “education and informational session on a complex piece of legislation before the body. This is a normal practice.”

And 78 Democratic representatives had their names checked off on a “Legislator Travel Verification for Mileage Reimbursement” form for Monday, listing the reason as “caucus.” (Ten more representatives — six Republicans and four Democrats — had other reasons listed for mileage reimbursement Monday.)

The apparent conflict between Norelli’s no-Monday-mileage rule and Monday’s Democratic caucus led a couple of GOP representatives to ask about it on the floor early this afternoon. And the issue came back after the casino debate ended, with four GOP representatives in succession grilling Norelli about it. Rep. George Lambert, a Litchfield Republican, pointedly asked how much the caucus cost the taxpayers.

Norelli said the no-mileage rule was intended to keep down expenses, not keep lawmakers from doing their jobs. There have been a number of exceptions, she said, including both Democratic and Republican leadership meetings. And had Republicans held a caucus, they would have received the same reimbursement, she said.

Minority Leader Gene Chandler, a Bartlett Republican, didn’t have an immediate comment on the flap. But for the record, he was one of the 10 representatives who listed non-caucus reasons for mileage reimbursement Monday.

“Leadership traditionally gets paid,” he explained.

(Ben Leubsdorf can be reached at 369-3307 or bleubsdorf@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @BenLeubsdorf.)

Another Democrat double standard. Do as I say not as I do. So dems how much did it cost us for you to twist arms?

The_Gambler wrote:

05/23/2013

You guys need to get off your high horses. These people work for the princely sum of $100 per year. Do you want them to pay for their own gas expenses also ? How is someone supposed to afford to drive from Berlin or Salem or even farther to attend House duties ? You should be thankful that we have a Legislature that costs us next to nothing to operate when compared with every other state in the Union.

Jim... wrote:

05/23/2013

There is one major difference here, the normal worker does not get paid "mileage" to drive to and from home for work. They are paid "mileage" for miles driven while "at" work and only for work related issues. If they can do this then why can the rest of us not deduct mileage to go to and back home from work everyday as a "working" expense? Just another special provision the lawmakers have written for themselves only.

RabbitNH wrote:

05/23/2013

Disagree Jim. the normal worker does not get paid 100 bucks a year either.

Timothy_Horrigan wrote:

05/24/2013

State reps are state reps every day throughout their two-year term, not just on the days when the full House is in session, and there is a lot more to the job than what goes on at the State House. Their primary work location is in fact their home offices. That's the theory behind reimbursing them for mileage.

Danny wrote:

05/23/2013

Our state reps. always try to squeeze the taxpayers and the state agencies but love to help them selves to increase their income. Take the mileage rule they are ignoring for example. Minority Leader Gene Chandler, stated, "Leadership traditionally gets paid,” like it is an "entitlement program for him. Our reps have in the past charged for daily mileage to and from their homes when they were in session even though they stated in local hotels and did not return home every night!
Mileage is not a per diem as many of them use it as. But hey, has anyone ever met an honest politician OR one that wasn't a hypocrite?